Bertelsmann-owned BMG splashed USD $400 million on catalog acquisitions in 2022.
As MBW reported back in March, Bertelsmann’s latest annual fiscal report revealed that BMG spent a record USD $535 million (EUR €509m) on the acquisition of music catalogs plus artist signings (i.e. advances) last year.
Within that $535 million figure, confirmed Bertelsmann, BMG spent $400 million (€380m) on acquiring music catalogs globally in 2022 – more than even Universal Music Group spent on catalog acquisitions in the same period.
You can see why Bertelsmann described BMG’s acquisitive expenditure in 2022 as an “investment offensive”.
Now, a new interview with BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld – who became the company’s Chief Exec three months ago – has revealed that BMG expects to spend “a similar” amount on catalog acquisitions in 2023 as it did last year.
Coesfeld further told Handelsblatt in an interview published Monday: “It is my job to lead [BMG] into the future. The next chapter of the music industry will look completely different.”
Today (October 18), two days after that Handelsblatt interview with Coesfeld landed, BMG has announced what it says is its largest recorded music acquisition in France to date.
The company has acquired the recorded music catalog of superstar French DJ and electronic music artist Martin Solveig, including some of his biggest hits including Intoxicated, Hello and +1.
This latest acquisition means that BMG has made an acquisition each week for the past three weeks:
- On September 28, BMG announced the acquisition of the recordings catalog of multi-platinum rock band Jet in Australia, in what the music company says is a “landmark deal.”
- And last week, BMG acquired the recordings catalog of Australia-based Dope Lemon from the project’s Platinum-selling, ARIA and APRA award-winning creator Angus Stone.
All three deals have also been with relatively young artists, with an average age, by MBW’s calculations, of 43 years old.
“BMG has demonstrated exceptional motivation, and a genuine desire to perpetuate the exploitation of the tracks that are dear to me.”
Martin Solveig
This follows a recent trend of ‘younger’ artists striking catalog deals, following the flurry of mega deals with ‘legacy’ acts over the past few of years (see The Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Sting etc).
In fact, the two biggest single-artist catalog deals in 2023 so far have involved acts who are younger than 40 years old.
Katy Perry, 38, sold her music rights to Litmus Music in a $225 million deal last month. And in January, Justin Bieber, 29, sold a career-spanning catalog to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital (HSC) in a nine-figure deal, the Wall Street Journal reported was worth around USD $200 million.
BMG’s catalog deal with Martin Solveig includes five albums from 2002’s Sur la Terre to 2011’s Smash and around 130 tracks.
Hello released in 2010 peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, reached No.1 in four countries and the Top 10 in ten others. Intoxicated is currently Solveig’s most-streamed song on Spotify with more than 350 million streams.
Martin Solveig said: “In the process of selecting a partner to host and preserve my recordings, it was imperative for me to associate myself with a company that understands the intrinsic value of this music and is just as passionate about its future potential as I was in creating it.
“BMG has demonstrated exceptional motivation, and a genuine desire to perpetuate the exploitation of the tracks that are dear to me.”
Martin Solveig’s work joins a BMG France roster which also includes electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre (recordings and publishing) and electronic music artists Yuksek (recordings and publishing) and Thylacine (music publishing).
“Martin Solveig is one of the most successful French artists on the international stage. His prized catalog is a significant addition to our French roster.”
Sylvain Gazaignes, BMG
BMG Managing Director France Sylvain Gazaignes said: “Martin Solveig is one of the most successful French artists on the international stage. His prized catalog is a significant addition to our French roster.”
BMG EVP Repertoire & Marketing Continental Europe Maximilian Kolb added: “Martin Solveig has created some of the most potent and successful electronic music of the past decade with a career which straddles the end of the download era and the emergence of streaming.
“We see significant potential to bring his music to a wider streaming audience.”
“We see significant potential to bring his music to a wider streaming audience.”
Maximilian Kolb, BMG
Ludivine Gutierrez, Martin Solveig’s Business Manager, said: “Throughout our discussions with BMG, I have seen the importance that BMG gives to an optimal and dynamic exploitation of Martin Solveig’s recordings catalog, something which will also benefit his current and future career.”
Maximilien Jazani, General Counsel of Catalogue Associates which represented Solveig in the deal, said: “I’m grateful to Martin for having trusted me to broker and to achieve for him this transaction and nothing could make me happier than to see that he is particularly happy and satisfied with this deal.”
Other deals made by BMG this year include the acquisition of the writer’s share of royalties of Michael Münzing of the Eurodance chart-topper SNAP! in August, and the purchase of Paul Simon’s artist royalty income stream and the neighboring rights income stream from Simon & Garfunkel recordings in June.
Also in June, BMG announced that it had bought the recordings catalog of iconic British rock group The Hollies.
Last month, MBW broke the news that, under Thomas Coesfeld, BMG will later this year reclaim its digital distribution rights from current distribution partner Warner Music Group.
BMG subsequently plans to handle its own distribution to streaming and download services for its recorded music repertoire.
The company’s physical recorded music distribution partnership with Warner/ADA will come to an end next year, after which BMG is expected to transfer its CD and vinyl distribution contract to another partner.Music Business Worldwide
